first off, thanks again to the OP for this thread. more people should have these cars on track. it's a great car out of the box, just like you said.
my experience after a few sessions at Virginia Intl Raceway and Summit Point Raceway:
1. I cooked my REAR brakes. apparently the proportioning on the S197s can favor the rear brakes more than is ideal for tracking the car. I don't know if others have had this problem but my point is to monitor the health of your front AND rear brakes.
2. my personal opinion is to basically leave the car alone until you can drive it at its limits...ASIDE from the brakes. pads, hi temp fluid, and/or ducts/braided stainless lines will keep you from cooking them if you haven't perfected your braking to preserve the stockers.
3. stick with whatever tires that are round, black, and hold air. better tires will cover up MISTAKES in your driving. just my opinion. once you master your delicate monster on the KDWS tires, then move up to something stickier.
4. this is in NO way to create an argument, but from what i've experienced and been advised to do safety-wise is ALL stock or ALL upgraded safety gear. in other words: stock belts plus a CG, OR rollbar/harnesses/seats all together. you are arguably risking injury to yourself with equipment that is not designed to work together should you need it. just my $.02.
5. don't fork around with endlinks and sway bars. if you're Ross Bentley you may notice a difference, but for us normal guys/gals adjusting the sway bars will provide negligible results. it's basically putting the car before the horse [i speak from experience lol].
6. but most importantly, DON'T SPEND MONEY THAT WILL KEEP YOU FROM GETTING TO THE TRACK!!!! spend money on SEAT TIME SEAT TIME SEAT TIME and then do your mods after you have paid for track time.
check out
www.nasaracing.net to find High Performance Driving Events in your area. you can get out there for as little as $40 for a 20 minute hyperdrive before you commit $350 or so to a full on HPDE. or you can work grid/timing/scoring to earn 'credits' for a free HPDE!!! beware, you WILL get addicted and your bank account WILL immediately begin to hemorrhage!!!
this is an AWESOME car on the track [even though i've decided to go with a hi mileage 94 gt as my track car 'just in case' something bad happens]!!!!
keep this thread going!!! and thanks again jlisle for starting the conversation!
JD
ps: if you DO want to spend some money on
suspension stuff, i have a 3 way adjustable swaybar, steeda x5 balljoints/hd strut mounts/street comp. adj. endlinks/GTrac brace and an Edelbrock 4 pt. strut tower brace for sale for CHEAP.